Finally, the Divide

(June 26)

Last night I had slept near a stream.  That sounds nice, but I should’ve known better.  You never want to sleep in a meadow or near a stream as these locations naturally draw condensation which you invariably end up packing away.

I did learn a neat trick for wet socks, though.  Normally, people make a little fire and try to dry them over or near the flame.  I experimented by placing flat rock over the edge of the fire.  Rather than risk the possible loss of a sock due to flame (and in my case the release of toxic fumes).  I heated the rock.  It stayed warm for several hours after I put out the fire and went to sleep.

Now the trip has started to get interesting.  I started hiking along the Dearborn River.  The forest was extremely crowded as small pines competed for space in an area that must’ve burned 20 years ago.  It was like walking along a path through a lush green grove of 6′ bristles.

Next, it was older forest.  Later, the terrain finally busted out into drier and higher altitude mountain tops.  Prior to this trip, I had envisioned walking along the roof line of America and having wide expansive views all around.  It was finally happening.

As I climbed up one 8,000′ ridge, I paused to watch a black bear forage its way up the opposite ridge.  Bears must just wake up in the morning looking for food and not stop looking until they fall asleep.  For humans it is recommended that we need 1 gram of protein for each pound of body weight.  If the same holds true for a 400 lb bear it would need to find the equivalent of 3.5 jars of Jif peanut butter per day.

I’ve been catching my feet on roots and rocks and my right foot is starting to hurt.  I have managed to catch up to a different group of CDT hikers and we spent most of today passing each other.  Eventually, however, the foot pain caused me to go real slow, especially down hill.  To make matters worse, I had barely brought enough water to get me to the end of the day.

Eventually, I stopped at the next water source.  The folks I just met (Gypsy Artist and Indie) were camped nearby and later I was glad to see Grizzly and company come in to camp.

I estimate that I hiked about 20 miles in 13 hours.